Lower Face and Neck Lift with CO2 Laser - Fresno, CA

Here are some pictures

At age 55 I feel great but my skin was doing everything an aging skin does in my family--losing elasticity, developing larger pores, loose jowls and a turkey neck. I met with several doctors in Fresno and San Francisco, paid the consultation fees, and decided to go with Dr. Kevin Ciresi at Athenix in Fresno who impressed me in many ways. He was adamant about not pulling my skin so tight and keeping a natural look. He carefully evaluated my face and listened to my main concerns: jawline contour, some facial scars and making me look younger. He was also very straight with me about what was going to happen and how I had a couple of unreal expectations about what I wanted via a facelift and he said I would benefit from the CO2 laser since I had concerns about a scar on my face and my general skin condition. He was very personable and I got the impression that he was confident his skills and in what I should do to get the results I wanted. After going home and doing Internet research on him, I felt positive that he was the surgeon for me.
At Athenix, you consult with someone first, then Dr. Ciresi comes in and sits directly in front of you and looks at your face and skin. Then he gives his opinion (this is after the consultant has given you an opinion) and then the three of us talked about the surgery options. I liked that two people in the same office evaluated me and had similar remarks without consulting with each other first. It was almost like getting a second opinion. I also liked that the consultant, Karina, was able to translate my concerns into options so that when the doctor came in I was able to ask more specific questions. (Will my face look like this…(stretched)…will my turkey neck be gone? How long will it last? What is recovery period? Do I need/want general anesthesia (yes) or twilight?) He asked me some questions, too, about my history and my expectations. Because of all my prior consultations and all the reading I'd done, I knew I wanted a lower face and neck lift. Dr. Ciresi was so sweet and encouraging, as well as putting me at ease and answering all my endless questions, he said yes I would see a difference with a lower face and neck lift and he would use liposuction under my chin as well as sewing the turkey neck separation together and giving me a tight neckline and great jawline. He explained the CO2 laser (Fraxel) since I was going to be out under anesthesia and how I could do it all safely at once. I had heard and read a lot about the laser and I knew I wanted the facelift and the laser so I agreed to the surgery (somewhat trepidatiously because hey, even though I had been looking to do it, now it seemed I found the perfect place so it was time to jump) and then went to get my pre-op physical and blood work then my surgery was two weeks later. I followed all the surgery directions exactly--no medications that weren't allowed, and I was also careful with my liquid intake...I made sure not to drink anything but water (my choice). I wanted to be as organic as possible for my surgery and I also ate only healthy food and avoided any junk food or fast food because of the salt.
The day before surgery I had a preliminary appointment, made my final payment (half at booking, half today) and met with Dr. Ciresi and just went over all my questions (I had written out about 30). He was funny and reassuring and all my questions were answered fully by this Board Certified Plastic Surgeon.
That night I was scared...like flat out scared. I started having anxiety and there was no sleep for me. I began pouring over Google "before and after" pictures of face lifts and surgery failures. I searched the doctor's name again to see if he had any complaints. I kept pulling my face back in the mirror and thinking that for better or worse, tomorrow my face would be permanently different and there would be no going back. But then, everything I read about facelifts and the hugely successful ones being performed gave me much courage. The fact that the staff at Athenix didn’t discount my questions and all seemed so confident in Dr. Ciresi, I finally resolved that I would be okay.
The morning of when I arrived at the office I was very calm. (they do the surgery in-house in a lovely operating room there) They took me in and filled out forms, introduced me to the Board Certified Anesthesiologist and he laid out his role to me and how he would be with me the entire time and not to worry. I put on a luxurious warm robe and totally hot bandeaux (not really that hot) and they put in the IV and I walked into the little room.
Dr. Ciresi drew on my face with a black marker exactly where he was going to cut and he talked to me about everything. He was very reassuring and then it was time. I lay down and he said to breathe deeply.
The next moment it was all over and they were shaking me awake and saying wake up! I DID NOT WANT TO WAKE UP. I was pleasantly resting and waking up was not thrilling. My face felt very tight but no pain. My head was wrapped up and I felt very other-worldly and quite out-of-it.
They had me sit up and Dr. Ciresi spoke to my girlfriend who was picking me up and gave her all the directions in a neat little folder. He came to check on me and told me he was very pleased with everything and my surgery went extremely well. So then the ominous car ride home (I feel sick. I need a bag. Ok I feel fine. Don't drive fast. Don't hit bumps.) These were things I was thinking but my BFF said I did not speak at all on the ride home or even that entire day despite her best efforts to check on me or elicit a response from me. I was pleasantly tired and I felt sleepy. I took my pain pills and packed pillows around my head and slept most of the day.
Later she told me she was NOT prepared for the Walking Dead zombie look I was rocking when she picked me up. Because of the laser, my face was oozing droplets of blood from every pore and my face was stretched into a Joker mask surrounded by large bandages. From my point of view, I just felt tight…like I had on one of those peel off gel masks and it didn’t hurt…just tight. But to be fair, I did take my pain meds religiously because I did NOT want to face any pain!
I ate ice and sipped water and I dozed off and on in a reclining chair. There was no sleep the first week. That was the hardest part--SO TIRED—but deep sleep was impossible. Your face is covered in Bacitracin and if you lean it against anything you stick to it and the ointment gets all over. I learned that you should NOT recline at all. My face was so swollen on day five, my best friend demanded I go to see Dr. Ciresi RIGHT NOW! So off we go to Athenix (they give you the doctor's cell phone number and all kinds of after hour communications which was amazing). Bottom line, I needed to sit up straighter even though I was only semi-reclining. The next day the swelling was measurably down and every day after it went down but I sat straight up packed with pillows around my throat so my head would stay up. I wish now I had found my little travel pillow I used on airplanes. It was pretty awful to sleep like that and I was going stir crazy on day six with cabin fever. If my friends and family had not been there to make to me laugh and entertain me, I don't know. It was hard to be locked away from life and continually face sleep deprivation and no sun and no going out (I was scary looking) and just overall recovery took a lot out of me. I tried to stay in a bedroom the first few days but the family was great about keeping me within the loop of what was going on. It wasn't painful so much as tedious. And boring.
The facelift was easy, the laser was hard. Imagine your worst sunburn then add leaking, oozing skin that's nearly purple in color and is continually crusting and draining. I had to use sopping wet cloths to sort of scrub my poor lasered face five to six times a day then repack it with bacitracin. The minute I finished, yellow ooze would resume dripping from my skin. I didn't like touching my face but it felt SO GOOD to put that cloth on it and to gently rub all that gunk off. I began going to my kitchen sink which has a faucet that is also a drinking fountain and I let the water just run all over my face for a while before I used the cloth.
The skin on my face became like little particles of sand and they were continuously forming so I was continuously washing. By day seven, my face was a nice hot pink in color and it seemed the oozing and crusting was over. On day ten my stitches were removed and it did not hurt one bit--because my entire face was numb like novocaine numb all around the stitches and all around the jawline and ears. I was able to wash my hair!!!!! Small joy after ten days.
Dr. Ciresi had me use Biocream, the Biocream Serum and the Biocream sunblock 30SPF starting on day ten and he told me I needed to stay moisturized and that my face would suck in the moisturizer like crazy and he was right. I am currently using the Biocream products but I add even more moisturizers like Cetaphil lotion and Clinique ultra moisturizer all day long. I literally would put lotion on every fifteen minutes and not rubbing it in but patting on white lotion. It would just continually disappear and so I continually had to pat it on.
On day 12, I put on a foundation that covers well and I went out for the first time. I wore a hat and scarf and sunglasses and sunblock and my face was so tight I couldn't eat anything hard--so soup was it. That is something I DID expect and I had brought in plenty of soup to eat and my family made fresh smoothies to drink because you really can't chew anything hard because of the tightness.
So now I am VERY happy to say my face is quite tight and the pink is lessening but I can go out without startling young children or scaring my family! This is the end of week five post op as I write this.
Would I do it again? Yes. With Dr. Ciresi. Everything they told me would happen, happened, exactly as they said it would. I had plenty of support and the great people at Athenix made sure I didn't suffer. I followed all directions and I rested for two straight weeks. I did not feel very strong after and I really wasn't able to do anything for myself (no bending, no picking up anything, just sitting, walking and resting) so luckily I had my family taking care of me that first week. You definitely need moral support when your face is as swollen as a soccer ball and you can't open your eyes or mouth (day 5 and 6 only). But now I go out shopping without makeup, my skin is smooth and wrinkle-free and no one looks at my still-pink face with too much concern so I am feeling very happy!
If I can give any advice about this surgery and the laser, it would be to prepare for recovery. Do your shopping, get your medicine, prepare where you will sleep/sit/wait to feel better. I had this misguided belief that I would be able to work while I was at home—that did not happen. They told me the first three days will be okay, the second three days will be terrible and then you will feel better and that’s exactly how it was. But I did not feel like working, I really just hung out with my family and watched TV, talked and laughed—because this whole experience was pretty funny when you think about it and the constant monitoring of your skin and face is arguably something that everyone wanted to see what was happening no matter how weird I looked. No reading, no real computer work, just nothing for five or six days. THAT was truly the hard part and as I said, if my husband and best friend had not been there, well, I was pacing the house on day six like a tiger in a cage because you actually FEEL okay, you just LOOK terrible and you have to stay out of the sun and your face is covered in a Vaseline-like product and overall, you are a greasy mess. A greasy mess with a lovely bright pink undertone.
Now at five weeks all my friends are telling me they want to do it, too! People who don’t know yet say things like, “You look so healthy! So relaxed! So happy! So good!” I can say I am very pleased and I look forward to the coming months as my skin continues to improve from the laser and the numbness and tightness fades. I highly recommend without reservation the staff at Athenix in Fresno and surgeon Kevin Ciresi. I hope this helps and feel free to ask me any questions!